Okay, got Poser in, and it's been fun. But now I wanna get some better models. I've got Poser 4, and I don't have Pro Pack. Can I get Vicky 3? Should I get Vicky 2? I'm a bit confused about all that kind of thing. I guess the real question is what should I be looking for as something I can use in Poser 4? Mike

You can get Vicky 2 or Vicky 3 to use in Poser 4. You don't need the Pro Pack to use those figures (or Mike or Stephanie, etc. and that includes all the animals, fish, birds, etc. too) There is quite a debate whether or not to get Vicky 2 or Vicky 3. Vicky 3 looks better but Vicky 2 has (right now) more stuff. Vicky 3 will catch up, I'm sure, and she has the versatility of being able to morph into a male. I'd check out what people are doing with the figures and see what suits your needs. Keep on having fun.

P.S. I meant that Vicky 3 has more morphing possibilities period than Vicky 2, but you have to buy additional body and head paks to achieve the effects. I've had a rough day. I'd head over to the Daz site after you get answers posted here and study what you really want to invest in. It can get to be pricey.

I'd get Vicki 2 then get V3 upgrade, save some money. There are also a lot of freebies out there, I'd check for your needs. Daz3d has the Mike1 and Vicki1 reduced res models in The Loft for very cheap. Do the math, look at your needs. There is TONS to buy out there, but there are a LOT of good freebie models and addons to poser4 content. Just make sure that the ProPack or Poser5 isn't required and your HD will start filling up. Welcome to Poserholics, your in a good group :)

You can use all of them in P4. They take more memory and processing than the Dork and Posette, but it's worth it. V3 is the coming thing, but there's a lot more out there for V2 right now. She's also cheaper to start with, since she comes with all the morphs built in. With V3, you need to get the morph packages (sold seperatly) to get the same (actually better) effects. As a newbie though, I'd start with V2. Mike is Mike right now. Although M3 will be out sometime this year (I'm betting June), the same situation is likely to occur with him. Get Mike 2. There's tons of free cloths and textures for both V2 and M2, so you can ease into them at a lot less cost. Of course, I've been rabid about Poser for a year, and I've got them all, as well as every morph package I could find for Mike (I work mostly in male characters). If you get drawn into Poser, you'd better keep the charge card on ice. Every once in a while, there's a boom of new stuff (not right now) that you'll HAVE to get. ..sigh.. Why can't it happen when I've got money? Welcome to the club! Post lots of pics. Make lots of comments. Have lots of fun.

Attached Link: http://store.daz3d.com/

Hi Mike, welcome to the madness. First off congratulations on getting Poser 4, I think that's a wise choice over Poser 5. Many people like it but it has it's ups and downs and would probably be harder to learn and you could always get it someday.

Where to begin?

The beginning's a good place I guess. Let's address your questions.

As to which models to buy...Buy what you can afford or what would help you do the artwork you want to do best. To be honest I'd spend a little time with Poser 4's basic models to get a feel for them. Take advantage of all the free stuff you can download here and at other sites to expand your arsenal of props, clothing, etc. Read the forums and browse Renderosity's site, lot's of good information here to be had.

While you've spending some time even if it's a few weeks with Poser's native models, read forum comments relating to Mike and Vicki and decide which ones are in your budget or might be the most effective or useful for you. Sales at Daz do happen from time to time so waiting a while may be helpful if you're on a budget. Vicki 3 is great but unless you use the V2/V3 version of her (included with V3) you'll need to spend more money on clothing if you can't find what you want for free. Get to know Daz inside and out, look at all the items they have available and see what interests you the most. Think about joining the platinum club, it will pay for itself right away if you want to buy a number of things to use with Mike,Vicki or ?.

Renderosity is a great place to learn the pro's and cons of the individual models and what you can expect from them and how they work. Another thing on the horizon is Daz Studio,It's not available yet but will be a free download while it's under development. Learn what it is and what it can do, it may be something you might be interested in after you master Poser.

There's so much to pass along I could go on forever. All I can say is welcome and whatever you decide Mike and the various Vicki's are great models and you won't go wrong whatever you decide. I'd suggest at least Mike2 and Vicki2, Stephanie's good also. If you want to test the water a little there are low res versions of them available too which aren't as pricey. What ever you do have fun that's what it's all about!

Attached Link: Victoria 2 CD

I think if you're getting started, you might want to get the most possible for the best price. With that in mind, you might consider the Victoria 2 CD. For $69, you get the following: 1.) Victoria 2.) Hair 3.) Body Texture 4.) Clothes You can literally get a great start with Victoria, for a great price. Just click the link to look at the deal.

welcome to your new addiction :)

I'd follow droyd's advice. If you do decide to get Vic and Mike (and they're well worth it!) I'd seriously consider getting a Plat Club membership. I got well over $500 worth of DAZ goodies the first day for about $130. (The Plat Club intro price was $70. Even at $100, it's a steal.) If you got the PC membership then bought the V2 CD collection, it would be only $48.30, saving you $20.70 on that purchase alone. The Mike 2 CD is priced the same. I really like V3 as well, but it may be worth it for you to play with V2 and M2 for a while to get the hang of them. If you like anime, get Aiko and Bishonen for Mike - both at DAZ. P5 is very hit or miss. People either love it or hate it. We're not sure why some people have flawless performance while others have nothing but flawed performance. I'd stay away from it at least until the next service release, then read everyone else's experiences with it before thinking about upgrading. Poser Pro Pack (also called PPP) will give you some advantages early on, especially the ability to use .jpg files instead of .bum file for bump maps. I think it also uses the straight .obj files instead of making copies that tend to corrupt. The short of it is, it can use files more efficiently and take up less hard drive space as your addiction grows. If you decide to branch out and make clothes in the future, it will make your life easier. On the other hand, when you first start out, PPP won't do much for you. Depending on your budget, you may want to wait a bit on PPP. Must have programs: *Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro, or another image editing program. (MS Paint will NOT work!) You'll want to create textures for your clothing, or at least modify some of the ones that you get. *UVMapper - get it free at UVMapper.com. (Down the road, you may want to get the professional version, but start off with the free one.) *P3DO Explorer by yarp. (In the FreeStuff.) If you download items made for PPP or P5, their thumbnails won't work. P3DO has a plug-in that will convert the thumbnails to a format that P4 can read.) *If you're on a MAC - MACConverter by MartinC. (In the FreeStuff.) Read the manual, look through the FAQs and ask any questions you might have. We have an extensive list of on-site and off-site tutorials here. Welcome to the insanity!

Looks like we got us another one. :-)

A good habit to get into is stopping by DAZ and picking up their weekly freebie - usually posted Wed/Thurs. They sometimes are add-ons or lite versions of a product, but there also have been some incredible free-standing items. Other sites offer nice regular freebies, too, and post notices in this forum. Welcome - glad you're having fun!

Don't forget Eve. She's free and available from Morph World. Maz